Igius Gonzalez

Igius Gonzalez is a rookie player of the SHL, playing for Team X on a three year contract. He is known for his lightning speed, quick reflexes, and fast movement. Igius was the 1st pick in the 2014 Draft who was originally claimed by Team Daiku, but traded for Anton Carlyle and a 2nd round pick from Team X.

Igius scored a hat trick in his 7th game as a rookie against the Ultimate Royals, where Team X won 5-0 against them. He got two more hat tricks against the Green Hornets (6-2 win for Team X) and against the Black Blades (4-0 win for Team X). He later won the Katana Trophy for the league's best rookie, surpassing Ben Beccam in votes. Igius is also credited as one of the league's greatest playmakers and shootout performers, even after a short 1-2 year period. He currently holds franchise and league records, such as having the most game-winning goals for Team X and for an SHL rookie (13), and the best shootout percentage of all time, netting 39 goals in 42 attempts for a ratio of 92.9%, which is the best in league history.

Igius was in the lower leagues, and was taught by his father, Pablo Gonzalez, on how to play hockey. Pablo hoped Igius would join the Green Hornets because he was in their pocket team division. Igius however stated he had no idea what team he would play for, and would leave it to the draft to determine his "fate".

In the 2014 SHL Draft, Igius was originally taken as a 1st round pick, which because of a trade, ended up being earned by Team Daiku from the Crozac Cardinals in exchange for various players from their pocket team. However, Team X made a deal with Team Daiku, in exchange for Anton Carlyle and other player picks. Igius would become the center of the fourth line for Team X.

Igius Gonzalez would finish the season in the final game against the Airdrie High Angels. With an assist from Nick Phillips, Igius fired a shot that Eamon Thael would just get a piece of, but rolled the puck into the net, netting a win for Team X. Igius won the top rookie award (along with Nik Incideus who was on a newly added team) with 35 goals, 40 assists, and 75 points. He broke the record for franchise game-winning goals, with 13, beating Nick Phillips' record of 12.

In the playoffs, Igius recorded 8 goals and 8 assists, and recorded six game winning goals, three of which were against the Airdrie High Angels. Due to his performace and excelling perseverance during the penultimate series, Igius was considered for the playoffs MVP.

In his second season, Igius finished at a 0.99 PPG, scoring 67 points in 68 games. He notched 22 goals and 45 assists, including 4 two-goal games. In the final half of the season, Igius scored 45 of his 67 points. In addition, he also went for the SHL shootout record, surpassing Nick Phillips' 16, Jose Tataios' 17, and Colton Caine's 20. Igius went for his fifteenth consecutive, but was stopped by Tyler Nicklaus. Igius went 14/17 during the span. Afterwards, Igius started a new streak, participating in seven shootouts and having ten shot attempts. Igius scored on all of them, and went to 24/27.

Igius' third season sparked the beginning of the period where Igius became known as the Shootout King. Team X participated in six shootouts in the first six games of the season. Igius went for seven consecutive shots in these six rounds, scoring all of them, breaking his record of 14, and tying Jose Tataios. In back to back games against the Yellow Flash and Mountain Flyers, Team X went to the shootout, going for three attempts in two games. Igius scored on all of them, and had a record of 20, tying Colton Caine. In a game later on in the season against Team Daiku. Igius, saddened, went in for what would become his 21st consecutive goal, scoring a deke on Wes Pickard. Igius was met with high appraisal, most notably from his teammates, and officially carried the shootout record on his shoulders. When asked after the game, Igius gave a tearful reply;

"My grandpa, Alfredo, taught me hockey and got me into it, with Pablo, my father, he helped me played in the lower leagues, work on my game, especially in the shootout. My grandpa told me he once scored twenty straight goals in the shootout. In the league, coincidentally, that was the record. However, that wasn't what I was going for... <holds head for a few seconds>. Last year, when I went for fifteen, I missed, and that's why I broke my stick afterwards. Not because I missed, because my grandpa was watching. And he... <pauses> got diagnosed with cancer the day before. But he refused to not see me. He said one day I'll break his record and he'll be there to cheer. But unfortunately <pauses for a moment> he passed away in September. He never got to see me break his record, but he did up there <points up>. Hence why I pointed to the sky after I scored and lost my <expletive> in tears when I did it. It was never about the record, it was about making my grandpa proud."

Igius, after going for 21 straight, had a record of 35/38, the best of all time, and the best after 30 attempts, surpassing Nick Phillips and Colton Caine's record of 34/38. His streak continues, his current record is 25, and he is 39/42.